"Over-population, dwindling natural resources and the yawning void within every one of us caused by society's unnatural social contracts and mass sexual repression means one thing: its checkmate for the human animal."

"So say The Phantom Band, with an invisible tongue firmly in an invisible cheek and if the sibylline verdict delivered by this mysterious Pan-Scottish sextet leans towards the dark side, then at least they’ve had the good grace to supply us with a fitting soundtrack for our spiral into the void. All universal matter can converge in a black hole - Checkmate Savage is where Beefheart meets Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, where Neu! meets Nick Cave, and we reckon it's a very early contender for album of the year."